The Wrong Button

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Hello there. If there is anyone left reading this blog, I apologise for the two year hiatus. I've been busy recording new music, and creating my website. I'm glad to say the website is done, you can find me at http://www.stephennewcombe.com/index.htm from now on, and this will be my last post here.

At my website you can listen to my previous albums, all now with full lyrics and information.

Also my new album is coming. I will be releasing it one track at a time. Here is a short promo film for it.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

I have something special in the planning for the next trilogy. Sometime this year (or next) I will be setting up a website on which my new works will become available. When I say something special, I mean just that. I will be delivering these albums in a way that has never been done before, and I'm hoping it will become really big.Just to whet your appetite, the official titles of the next three albums are.........

A Normal Album with 12 Songs on it

My First Psychedelic Album

Another Funny Album

Without giving too much away, it is going to be an interactive experience, which longtime SMiLE fans will particularly appreciate!

Get in touch at second-trilogy@hotmail.com and I will contact you as soon as the website is up. As I say this is not happening yet, but it will happen.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Listen To My Toes tapes have been languishing in a box in my wardrobe for nigh on 14 years now, indeed, as I had sold the 4 track they had been recorded on I could not even play them. Recently on Ebay though I was able to get hold of a Fostex 280, and so began the laborious task of cataloguing and transferring the tapes onto hard disk, before tape degradation set in.

The album itself was constructed out of over 100 separate sections. My preferred method of working was to record a set of basic tracks over 4 tracks, and then make a mono mix onto mini-disk, and record it back to one track of the tape machine. I would usually then record and bounce down the background vocals onto two tracks, and copy the mono track to another track, thus creating a mix with the backgrounds in true stereo, and the track in false stereo. Another mix was then made to mini-disk, and back onto the tape for the lead vocals.

The problem I had when transferring the tapes onto hard disk, was that each section, usually comprising of three separate set of dubs, differed slightly in pitch. I had to manually sync each bit to the original master. It took ages. What this effectively means though is I can now create a true stereo mix of each song by syncing all the tracks (usually 12) together. As my other preferred working method back in '93 was to smoke lots of dope, the original mixes were sloppy to say the least. I am looking forward to remixing it.

Some bits however I was unable to find, all I have are the final mini-disk mixes. I worked out I must have taped over the masters to conserve tape, as all the tapes are accounted for. I also unfortunately had a tape get chewed up whilst transferring it, and sections of the Archaeologist Song are now lost.

In light of this, I have decided t0 re-record these missing / chewed sections. I will record them on the Fostex, on tape, and make them as faithful to the original as possible. Then I thought why stop there? I always hated the basic tracks of Talking To Tarquin. It was supposed to be a piss take of shit indie music, so I purposefully made am awful mix. Unfortunately, it was all bounced down onto two tracks, so there is little I can do to improve it. So I'll re-record the basic tracks, as faithfully as possible, keeping the original vocal and lead guitar.

So the new Listen To My Toes mix will be a partial re-record. I've already started mixing Lord of the Drugs, and it sounds great. It is like the first time I heard Pet Sounds in stereo. I'll upload a few teasers in the months to come, but this one, when finished, will be for sale only I'm afraid (unless no one buys it)

Monday, February 11, 2008

near the end of the Wrong Button sessions, so is very much in the style of that album. I was trying to imagine how Brian might have recorded the second section, and it is quite different from the other versions you have heard. I particularly enjoy the bit right at the end, although it makes me cringe. Its amazing how you turn into a gushy mess when you meet your hero.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Hi, Stephen here, I just wanted to touch cloth with my many fans. I have put a counter on this blog now so I can see that 11 people have visited since yesterday, and only 3 of them were me.

You can expect some new uploads soon. I've been going through some of the old multi-track tapes. They're all in good shape apart from Hickory Violet, which will need some major restoration work doing on it in time for the 19th Anniversary Virtual Box Set I'm planning. Do keep coming back, but can you please wipe your feet as someone trod dogshit all over this blog recently.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Completely disregarding my poll, here are a few Wrong Button sessions, including some alternate versions, early mixes and some stuff that never made it on the album. This is the tip of the iceberg, and in no way represents the cream of the outtakes. It's just a few little snippets to keep you going.

I will be posting some news soon regarding the new album, so please keep coming back. I know I said there wouldn't be any new stuff, but I might be changing my mind, I havn't decided yet.

Also, please respond to this post if you would be willing to pay money for completely remastered versions of the first three albums. There was a lot of bouncing down done, particularly on the second album, and I can, should and will create true stereo masters of my albums. The tapes are all in storage in a box in my wardrobe, and upon checking them recently, there doesn't appear to be any degradation, thankfully. As I say I think the second album in particular would really scrub up well. Would you pay for this? Let me know.